How to Get a Small System on the State DWSRF Intended Use Plan

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund is a federal-state loan program. Each state publishes an Intended Use Plan (IUP) every year that names the systems and projects it expects to fund. If you aren't on that list, you aren't in line for the loan, the principal forgiveness, or the set-asides that ride with it.

This page is how a small system gets onto that list. It isn't a grant application written for you, and it isn't a promise of money. Confirm the current IUP deadline and the current contact with your state drinking-water program. This isn't legal advice.

What the IUP actually is

EPA allots DWSRF money to states. The state runs the program. Once a year, the state publishes an Intended Use Plan that tells the public, and EPA, how it will use that allotment: the project priority list, the set-asides, the disadvantaged-community policy, and the terms. Getting listed on the IUP, or on the project priority list the IUP adopts, is the gate.

The IUP is a state document. There's no national form and no single national due date. Some states take project questionnaires on a rolling basis and rank once a year. Some have a hard submission window. Ask this year's date. Don't reuse a date you saw on a neighboring state's website.

Why listing matters for a small system

Listing is how you reach the parts of DWSRF that small systems actually need:

• Principal forgiveness. A loan the state agrees not to collect, in whole or in part, often tied to disadvantaged-community status. You can't get it on a project the state never ranked.
• LSLR set-asides. Dedicated DWSRF capacity for lead service line inventory and replacement, sitting next to the LCRI work due November 1, 2027.
• EC-SDC and PFAS set-asides. Emerging-contaminant capacity that states use for PFAS treatment and related work in small or disadvantaged communities.

Those pots are still DWSRF. They still run through the state's IUP. A system that waits for a PFAS grant to appear in the inbox, and never enters the IUP cycle, sits out the year. For the wider funding map, see Drinking water grants for small systems 2026: the funding map.

What to have in hand before you call

The state DWSRF or IUP contact will ask for a defined project, not a feeling that the plant is old. Build a one-file packet:

• PWSID. The official identifier. Look it up on the EPA profile before the call.
• Population served and system type. Community or non-transient non-community, and the count the state uses.
• A defined project. One sentence that names the asset and the failure. "Replace the 1978 high-service pumps and add a second so we can take one offline" is a project. "We need help with the plant" isn't.
• Disadvantaged-community status, if any. Your state defines this. If you think you qualify, say so and ask how they score it. Don't claim a status the state hasn't used for you.
• A board-ready problem statement. Two short paragraphs the board has already seen: what's failing, who's at risk, what happens if you wait a year, and what a funded project would change.

Add the compliance facts that belong to the project. An open nitrate MCL, a lead inventory with unknowns, or PFAS initial monitoring due April 26, 2027 is part of the problem statement when the project addresses that finding. Don't hide open violations. Funders pull SDWIS.

The call, then the state's form

Talk to the state DWSRF or IUP contact first. The drinking-water program page, not a general grants inbox, is the usual place to find the name. Keep the first call short:

• Name the PWSID, the town, and the population.
• Read the one-sentence project.
• Ask whether this project type is eligible this year, and which set-aside it should sit under (base DWSRF, LSLR, emerging contaminants).
• Ask the current IUP deadline and the form they want.
• Ask how they treat disadvantaged-community scoring.

Then do the form they named, by the date they named. Don't send a ten-page narrative to a contact who asked for a two-page questionnaire. Don't skip the ranking form because you plan to hire an engineer in the fall. Listing happens on the state's calendar, not on yours.

DWSRF is not USDA Water and Waste Disposal

USDA Water and Waste Disposal is a different program, run by USDA Rural Development, with its own eligibility and its own application. It can layer with DWSRF on the same project. It doesn't put you on the state IUP. Filing a USDA application doesn't list you for principal forgiveness or for the LSLR or EC-SDC set-asides. Filing the IUP form doesn't file USDA. If you're eligible for both, say so in each packet and tell each funder the other is in play. Confirm both deadlines. They won't match.

Don't treat a state construction grant, an emergency repair fund, or a congressional earmark as a substitute for the IUP. Those can help. They aren't the DWSRF list.

After you're listed

Listing isn't a closing. The IUP says the state intends to use funds on your project if you finish the next steps: environmental review, plans and specs the state will approve, a loan agreement, and any additional disadvantaged-community paperwork. Systems fall off the list when they can't produce those pieces in the year the IUP covers. Put the follow-up dates on the same calendar as July 1 CCR delivery and the November 1, 2027 LCRI package.

If you aren't listed, ask why. Sometimes the project was eligible and late. Sometimes it was the wrong set-aside. Sometimes the state wants a smaller first phase. Write the answer down and use it for the next cycle. Missing one IUP is a year. Missing two is a habit.

What you tell the board

DWSRF money moves through the state Intended Use Plan. We have to be on that list to reach principal forgiveness and the LSLR or PFAS set-asides. Here is the project sentence, the PWSID, the population, and whether we believe we're a disadvantaged community under the state's definition. Here is the state contact, the current IUP deadline they gave us, and the form they want. USDA Water and Waste Disposal is a separate program. We won't confuse the two calendars. Listing is the start of underwriting, not a deposit.

Ask the board for a vote on the problem statement and on authority to submit the state's form. A packet with no board vote is a draft. A packet with a vote is an application the state can rank.

FAQ

Is the IUP a grant award?

No. The IUP is the state's plan for how it will use DWSRF funds that year. Getting listed puts your project in line for a loan, for principal forgiveness if you qualify, and for the set-aside that matches the work. It isn't a check and it isn't a federal award letter.

When is the IUP deadline?

It's a state date, and it changes. Confirm the current IUP deadline with the state DWSRF contact. Don't use last year's date, and don't use another state's date.

Can we skip the IUP and only apply to USDA?

You can apply to USDA Water and Waste Disposal if you're eligible. That doesn't list you on the state DWSRF IUP. The programs are different. If the project needs principal forgiveness or an LSLR or PFAS set-aside, you still need the IUP conversation.

Do we need a full engineering report to get listed?

Some states rank on a short questionnaire and take engineering later. Some want more up front. Ask the state contact what this year's form requires. Don't delay the ranking form to wait on a report the state didn't ask for yet.

Check my system free at /find-my-system. Complete System Report is $199. No subscription.

Orevant provides compliance information tools. This page isn't legal advice. Confirm the current IUP deadline, forms, and disadvantaged-community rules with your state primacy agency and DWSRF contact.